Alan E. Stewart, professor in the Mary Frances Early College of Education’s counseling and human development services department, recently spoke with MSN about annoying personality traits based on birth order.
Firstborns like to be in charge and are very driven, which can lead to them being highly successful. However, they also can be know-it-alls and want to be right about everything.
Middle children are generally easygoing peacemakers who are pretty likeable. But it can be hard to pin down exactly what they want, and they can have trouble handling conflict.
Youngest children are used to getting whatever they want as the baby of the family and often don’t have motivation to change their ways.
Stewart said youngest children “may develop social skills that will get other people to do things for them, thus contributing to their image as charming and popular.”
According the story, only children are prone to embody the worst qualities of both first-borns and last-borns, with none of those mellow, peace-loving middle-child vibes to soften their edges. However, they probably also have good communication skills since they may have grown up talking to adults more than other children.
